Virulence factors associated with Salmonella species.

Salmonella species can cause diseases ranging in severity from acute gastroenteritis to typhoid fever. These bacteria are considered as intracellular pathogens and produce several products which are required for entry and survival in the intracellular environment, in addition to factors necessary for existence in the gastrointestinal tract and the outside environment. The virulence factors used by these bacteria to cause these diseases are complex, and only recently have we begun to characterize these factors and determine the contribution they make to Salmonella virulence.